Review: Paul Kowalow/EC Gallery

Shooting Chicago’s skyscrapers and landmarks reflected in glass, Paul Kowalow comes up with color images that could be frames in a disaster flick—“Meltdown.” All things solid shimmer and sag as they undulate precariously after what might have been a heat storm. Even Millennium Park turns into a swirling cavernous purple-orange hellish blob, but for the tiny antlike silhouetted pedestrians who appear to be oblivious to the pit into which they have been cast. Kowalow assures us that we could see these deconstructive wonders with our naked eyes if we were simply observant; his studies are straight digital photos with only a few computerized tweaks of color and contrast. For Kowalow, the extravagant possibilities of ordinary perception are one of the main chances of life; he consummates admirably street photography’s life-enhancing vocation of bringing to our attention the amazing sights that we overlook by dint of our self-preoccupation, and inviting us to imagine. (Michael Weinstein)